#let me ship these two characters who seemingly hate eachother in peace

[fairytwles]

“they would never get together” this “they would hate eachother” that!what happened to shipping two people who have never even been in the same room! why do ships have to make sense now! who cares! we used to be a proper country!

[shitty-reviews-by-me]

“Avatar: The Last Airbender” is one of the best shows I’ve seen

This is your spoiler warning.

Note: I started writing this forever ago when I actually finished the show, but my procrastination is deadly, so I only got through the paragraph on Zuko before waiting like a month to pick it up again. 

Note 2.0: I know that there are comics that continue the series where it left off, but I haven’t read any of them. All of this will be based soley off of atla.

I started watching “Avatar: The Last Airbender” for two reasons. One, I remember seeing parts of episodes here and there as a small child, and I found what I saw intriguing; and two, my boyfriend just really, really loves it. When it showed up in the Netflix Spotlight I knew I was going to watch it, but it ended up taking longer for me to get to it than I originally expected. I procrastinate doing things I want to do just as much as things I don’t, but that’s another story.

I’m going to keep the actual review short. The show has been finished since 2008 and there is probably not much that I can say that hasn’t already been said. Besides that, I mostly just want to talk about my opinions because I have a lot of them.

“Avatar: The Last Airbender” is great on all accounts. All of the characters were interesting and complex. The plot was extremely complex, but easy to understand by anyone, no matter their age. In fact, when I made my grandma watch the first episode, it seemed like she kind of enjoyed it. Of course it is also possible she said that to be nice and was really thinking “what the fuck” the entire time. I haven’t found a single person say they don’t like “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” but maybe I’m not looking hard enough. Honestly I don’t know what else to say, I’m sorry, I just really want to talk about my opinions.

Let’s Talk About Zuko (because I love him)

I mean just look at him. How could he not be your favorite. Zuko is probably the best developed character in atla, and I’ll be honest, I never saw him as a “bad guy.” I mean, he was certainly a villian, but he wasn’t a bad person. In the first few episodes, Zuko is already painted as a sympathetic villian. We learn that as a young teenager his father banished him, sending him into a search for the Avatar. A search that was seemingly destined to fail. It is important to remember that Zuko was a CHILD. His family turned on him and all he wanted was join them again. Zuko’s actions were overall understandable.

Now Let’s Talk About Azula (she deserves better)

Azula doesn’t get as much sympathy as Zuko for obvious reasons. When the show ends her fate isn’t as clear as all the other characters. We get to see Ozai rotting in a cell, but Azula’s last scene is her having a complete mental breakdown after Katara managed to best her in combat. I’m sure the comics cover what happens next for her, but again I haven’t read them.

I’ve seen tons of people calling Azula a psycho, and an irredeemable monster, but I wholeheartedly disagree. Like Zuko she is just a child. She is only fourteen years old when the events of atla take place, and is the product of manipulation and abuse from both of her parents. She deserves a redemtion arc. There are videos and posts that will explain Azula’s psyche better than I ever will be able to, but I’m gonna try anyway.

I would like to make it clear that I do not believe Ozai deserves redemption. He was a grown ass adult who abused and manipulated everyone around him. While Azula also abused and manipulated the people around her, she did so as a child, following her father’s example. In addition to that, we know that Ursa’s belief that Azula was a monster hurt her. Ursa never showed that she believed Azula could be a better person, and therefore why would Azula be choose to be kind and good when her father rewarded the abusive tendencies she developed? One of the big differences between Zuko and Azula’s upbringing is that their mother believed in Zuko. She believed he could do good in the world but failed to show Azula the kindness she showed Zuko.

The cycle of abuse is very real. Pretending that Azula is just some psycho, and not a child following the pattern of behavior she saw growing up is immature. There is no question that she regularly did horrible things, and I don’t even think that her friends, Ty Lee and Mai, or Zuko should forgive her if they don’t want to, but she does deserve a fresh start. Let’s be real, Azula would need a lot of therapy to even get to a place where she could potentially be redeemed or forgiven.

In summary, people need to stop writing Azula off as an irredeemable psycho.

Kataang: Thanks I Hate It (just hear me out, okay)

Kataang vs. Zutara is such a huge debate, and trust me, I’ll get into Zutara, but right now I want to talk about why I don’t like Kataang in a list format.

Their Age Difference-- I think sometimes adults writing teen/preteen characters completely forget what it’s like to actually be those ages. Aang is twelve (I get that he’s technically one hundred and twelve) and Katara is fourteen. While two years really isn’t a big age difference, especially as people get older, it is a little weird when the the people are twelve and fourteen. When I’ve brought up this age difference to people I’ve always heard the argument that Aang is mature for his age and that’s why it works. That is a faulty for a number of reasons. First of all, the claim that someone is mature for their age is used to justify inappropriate relationships by pedophiles all the time. Secondly, it could be argued that Katara is mature for her age as well, so there is no way their maturity is equal. My final point, there’s a good chance Aang hasn’t even gone through puberty yet while Katara is definitely well on her way on that front. Maybe that sounds weird, but males start puberty between the Ages of nine and fourteen, which means there Aang is at a pretty average age to START puberty. Females start puberty between the ages of eight and thirteen which means she’s well on her way. Like I said, puberty sounds like a weird thing to bring up, but a lot of maturity come from going throught puberty.

They Made Such Good Friends-- Aang and Katara had such a good friendship throughout the show. It could have been a great example of a platonic friendship between a straight cis guy and a straight cis girl. Instead we got the male and female lead end up together, just like they do in everything else.

No Evidence of Reciprocated Feeling-- While obviously Katara must like Aang because otherwise she wouldn’t have kissed him, I don’t think there was very much evidence leading up to that moment that Katara had any sort of romantic feelings towards Aang. Throughout the series she says she only sees him as a good friend, almost as a brother. I will admit, there were hints here and there. In the episode The Fortuneteller, Katara is told she’ll marry a powerful bender, and in the end of the episode she realizes that Aang is an extremely powerful bender. In the secret tunnel her and Aang kiss/almost kiss (I can’t remember exactly), and in that moment it seems like maybe she could have feelings for him. Other than various small moments there isn’t a lot of evidence that she liked him. I think the evolution of Katara’s feelings should have gotten more attention because the kiss at the end felt a bit like it was out of nowhere.

It’s A Missed Opportunity-- There are so many cases in real life of cis men thinking their entitled to a romantic relationship with a woman because they’re friends, or she was kind to him once. Because of the young intended audience for the show, it could have been great to show little kids that it’s okay if romantic feelings towards someone aren’t reciprocated, and that it doesn’t have to ruin a friendship. Also that no body is really at fault when that kind of thing happens. It would have been a good lesson but obviously it didn’t go that way.

I haven’s seen it, but I know that in Legend of Korra you find out that Aang and Katara ended up getting married and having children. I think that still could have happened if they ended atla as friends. It could have been them developing feelings for eachother as young adults.

This ship has potential but I wish they did it differently in canon.

Zutara Isn’t Ideal Either

Honestly my biggest problem with this ship is the fact that many of the people who ship it don’t take into accout the fact that they both (particularly Katara) have trauma because of the other person. Zuko spent months hunting down and intimidating the gaang. Like I said he’s redeemed himself but that shouldn’t just brush the terrible things he did under the rug. Katara threatens Zuko’s life when he first joins the gaang, and I can’t blame her for that. She doesn’t know whether or not he’s really changed.

Like Kataang this ship has potential, but it shouldn’t be romantasized beyond the limits of what is possible.

In Summary

(wish i could give credit to whoever drew this but i don’t know who it was)

I could write a book on all of the opinion I have about this spectacular series. However, I’m exhaused and want to go to sleep. I will not be proofreading this, sorry.

Legend of Korra was just put on netflix and I’m sure that once I watch it I’ll have a million more things to say.

I don’t know how to end this, so uh... Peace?

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

I really love how you write about James x Mitch, i never shipped them until i read your fic, what do you think each of them could bring to the relationship/why are they good for eachother? Your points of view are really interesting.

oh anon you have no idea what floodgate you’ve opened-

So, like I’ve said, it’s probably no longer a secret that jamitch is a guilty pleasure ship of mine. I’m absolutely in love with the idea of this ship. Hell, I’d go as far as to say that it’s my second favorite ship right behind clouis. I know it’s a little insane but let me start at the beginning. 

In ep2, both Mitch and James have decent amounts of screentime. 

Looking at James first, we’re shown this dude wearing another dudes face to blend in with the walkers. He’s soft-spoken, appears to be incredibly intelligent, and he comes off like he genuinely cares about Clementine and AJ’s safety.  He saves them from Lilly and Abel, and already we see just what a pacifist he is towards these walkers. He doesn’t stealth kill them; he throws rocks to make them go away. 

He mentions that he didn’t want to sacrifice as many, but he also didn’t want Clementine and AJ to be taken. He stops her from attacking a walker, suggesting she throw a rock instead like he did before, and we all know how far he goes with this way of thinking in future episodes.  

Now, keep in mind that James has no personal connections to these walkers and who they were before they turned. 

 Now, Mitch.

We’re shown that he’s incredibly angry about Marlon’s death and wants Clementine and AJ gone. He’s very harsh, trying to come off as intimidating when he pulls his knife on them and being the first to say they need to leave. 

When Clementine and AJ come back, he’s willing to put those feelings aside because the fate of the school depends on their teamwork, whether he likes it or not. And, again, he tries to intimidate Clementine with “If we survive this, you and I are gonna have words." and "Make her go. We send the one we don’t mind losing." 

However, at this point, it’s pretty clear that he’s all huff and puff without any blow. The more Clementine talks with him, the more he calms down and shares about his past in bomb-making. 

Now, let’s talk about Ms. Martin. 

She’s a walker now, but she was someone Mitch knew. As Ruby said, Ms. Martin stayed when all the other adults left and that has to mean something, right? But what does Mitch want to do with her body?

He wants to burn her because it’s not Ms. Martin, it’s a walker. 

“It’s better, you know. To get it over with. You get all caught up in who people used to be and you can’t deal with what’s in front of you.”

vs.

“It was hard to send the herd in. To help you…. I didn’t want them to die.”

Do you see where I’m going with this? 

Already we’ve got these two boys who are on completely different viewpoints of walkers and seemingly have opposite personalities. 

To James, walkers still hold something more, something peaceful and human. To Mitch, they’re just dead. They’re not people, they’re walkers. 

Now imagine these boys meeting.

One thing that I will always be a salty bitch about is the fact that both James and Mitch have plenty of screen time in ep2 but never get the opportunity to meet. 

Because if they had? 

How fascinating would it be to watch these two go from strangers with seemingly nothing in common to tolerable acquaintances to eventual friends to lovers?

When you look past their views on walkers, they actually have a few things in common, and I’m not just talking about them both getting murdered by Lilly c’mon

They’re both incredibly stubborn and set in their ways. The odds of you changing their minds on certain topics are slim, but not impossible. I actually think when James says, “I may be stubborn, but I’m not heartless,” actually summarizes both of them in many ways.

Both aren’t afraid to try and protect someone younger and weaker than them. 

This is what gets Mitch killed in canon when he goes after Lilly trying to save Tenn [as infuriating and stupid as it is] and we know how much he cared for and looked after Willy.  

We see James save Tenn at least twice; on the boat when he wrestles a gun away from the raider who was going to shoot Tenn and when he straight up punches the walker that grabs him in the cave. Not to mention him helping AJ when he was shot. 

They both use knives as weapons when fighting. Shit, James uses two knives! You can’t tell me that Mitch wouldn’t be impressed as shit seeing James take down a herd of walkers while duel-wielding knives. He wouldn’t say it out loud, though. He’d just be like, “Yeah, you’re not bad with those, I guess…” but he’s fucking screaming on the inside. 

When I think of these two, I think of them coming to an agreement: We keep the walkers alive because it’s beneficial to us so long as they’re contained and in no way endanger us. 

In my own writings, James and the Ericson squad have an arrangement. James scouts the areas around the schools and collects the walkers. He secures them in his barn and because of this, their hunting grounds are almost always free of stray walkers, making it easier and safer to hunt and travel. In exchange, James has a room at the school to stay in whenever he wants. 

He’s apart of the group after everything that went down at the delta. 

Mitch still doesn’t see walkers the way James does, but that’s okay. It’s not something that they constantly argue about because it’s not really an issue anymore. 

And you know what it makes room for?

James bonding with Willy [because the kid still things he’s a badass] which in turn makes Mitch try harder to get along with him. 

Eventually, Mitch doesn’t have to try, it just happens. 

James teaches Mitch all kinds of amazing blade techniques, and Mitch helps James with his archery skills. Can’t you see these two fighting together, side by side? See them hunting and scouting together?

James helps Mitch will all of his building and repairing projects, and they actually get to talk with one another about all kinds of shit. 

Mitch giving James emergency firecrackers to distract walkers with if things ever got ugly?

Mitch trying not to show he’s worried when James spends some nights out in the woods and being unable to wrap his head around it? Them getting into petty arguments about it but eventually making up when James finally opens up about his time with the Whisperers and all the horrible things he’s done? Mitch initially being freaked out about such a past but realizing that that’s not who James is anymore? 

These two dingdongs dancing around each other and their feelings for several personal reasons? To the point where everyone’s just fucking done with it?

Mitch refusing to subject himself to the potential pain of losing someone he cares about romantically? Causing him to suppress and downright ignore everything he feels when they’re together?

James having his doubts because of how sour his previous relationship went? Especially when he starts to realize that Charlie and Mitch actually have their fair share of similarities? 

Mitch going out of his way to do things for James then turning around and acting like it isn’t a big deal? 

Mitch just…. being so goddamn soft for him??? 

James’ feelings growing so strong that he begins to avoid Mitch and spend more nights out in the woods?

….I’m going to stop there because I actually have a whole scenario of how they actually get together planned and I don’t want to completely spoil it. 

Anyway.

 In conclusion. 

Mitch and James are a combination of characters who shouldn’t work based on their opposite views, but they do. 

In my silly little head, Mitch and James as a couple makes sense and I almost hate it? 

Because of course I would ship these two together. They literally never meet in canon! There’s no canonical evidence to back these two as a potential couple! 

Nothing about them should make any sense!

But I fucking love them anyway

I’m gonna die holding jamitch in one hand and clouis in the other.